Turtle Island Native Network invites you to discuss issues related to the legacy of Indian Residential Schools in Canada and Indian Boarding Schools and Mission Schools in the United States. E-Mail us at turtleislandnativenetwork@gmail.com

[ The day began as Elder Fred Kelly conducted a sunrise ceremony / and a sacred fire was lit and kept burning on Victoria Island and was tended by Fire Keeper Peter Decontie and it was open to the public all day. ]

As hundreds of thousands watched on tv, or on web sites, leaders of Firt Nation and Aboriginal organizations witnessed first hand, the making of history in the House of Commons in Ottawa.

The Prime Minister made a sincere apology, while the leaders were moved to tears, as they sat there in a circle in the House of Commons - a first for Aboriginal Canadians. “The treatment of children in Indian Residential Schools is a sad chapter in our history,” Prime Minister Harper said. “Today, we recognize this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country. The Government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the Aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly.”

In a reversal of previous plans, the government agreed that the Aboriginal leaders would be able to comment in the House of Commons, following the statement of apology and statements by political leaders.

Stephane Dion, leader of the official Opposition also stood and apologized for the role of previous Liberal governments. ""As the leader of the party that was in government for more than seventy years of the last century, I acknowledge our role and our shared responsibility in this tragedy," said Mr. Dion. "I am deeply sorry." Mr. Dion called today an important moment in the history of relations between Canada's Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. "We must, together as a nation, face the truth to ensure that we never have to apologize to another generation, that the tragedy of forced assimilation of Aboriginal peoples in Canada never happens again," he said. Speaking to Members of Parliament as well as residential school survivors in attendance in the House, Mr. Dion acknowledged the terrible wounds left by residential schools on individuals, families and communities. "For too long, Canadian governments chose to ignore the consequences of this tragedy instead of trying to understand them, so that the suffering of First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities continues to this day," said Mr. Dion. "Today, we lay the first stone in the building of a new monument. A monument dedicated to truth, reconciliation and healing."

Both NDP leader Jack Layton and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe called on the Harper government to walk the talk, by supporting the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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Health support is available for survivors who would like to talk to someone or who may experience emotional distress following the apology.

A 24-hour, 7 days a week, toll-free distress line is available at
1-866-925-4419.
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Prime Minister Harper offers full apology on behalf of Canadians for the Indian Residential Schools system

June 11, 2008
Ottawa, Ontario

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The treatment of children in Indian Residential Schools is a sad chapter in our history.

For more than a century, Indian Residential Schools separated over 150,000 Aboriginal children from their families and communities. In the 1870’s, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to educate Aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these schools. Two primary objectives of the Residential Schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. These objectives were based on the assumption Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, "to kill the Indian in the child". Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.

One hundred and thirty-two federally-supported schools were located in every province and territory, except Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Most schools were operated as "joint ventures" with Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian or United Churches. The Government of Canada built an educational system in which very young children were often forcibly removed from their homes, often taken far from their communities. Many were inadequately fed, clothed and housed. All were deprived of the care and nurturing of their parents, grandparents and communities. First Nations, Inuit and Métis languages and cultural practices were prohibited in these schools. Tragically, some of these children died while attending residential schools and others never returned home.

The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian Residential Schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on Aboriginal culture, heritage and language. While some former students have spoken positively about their experiences at residential schools, these stories are far overshadowed by tragic accounts of the emotional, physical and sexual abuse and neglect of helpless children, and their separation from powerless families and communities.

The legacy of Indian Residential Schools has contributed to social problems that continue to exist in many communities today.

It has taken extraordinary courage for the thousands of survivors that have come forward to speak publicly about the abuse they suffered. It is a testament to their resilience as individuals and to the strength of their cultures. Regrettably, many former students are not with us today and died never having received a full apology from the Government of Canada.

The government recognizes that the absence of an apology has been an impediment to healing and reconciliation. Therefore, on behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians, I stand before you, in this Chamber so central to our life as a country, to apologize to Aboriginal peoples for Canada’s role in the Indian Residential Schools system.

To the approximately 80,000 living former students, and all family members and communities, the Government of Canada now recognizes that it was wrong to forcibly remove children from their homes and we apologize for having done this. We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions that it created a void in many lives and communities, and we apologize for having done this. We now recognize that, in separating children from their families, we undermined the ability of many to adequately parent their own children and sowed the seeds for generations to follow, and we apologize for having done this. We now recognize that, far too often, these institutions gave rise to abuse or neglect and were inadequately controlled, and we apologize for failing to protect you. Not only did you suffer these abuses as children, but as you became parents, you were powerless to protect your own children from suffering the same experience, and for this we are sorry.

The burden of this experience has been on your shoulders for far too long. The burden is properly ours as a Government, and as a country. There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian Residential Schools system to ever prevail again. You have been working on recovering from this experience for a long time and in a very real sense, we are now joining you on this journey. The Government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the Aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly.

In moving towards healing, reconciliation and resolution of the sad legacy of Indian Residential Schools, implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement began on September 19, 2007. Years of work by survivors, communities, and Aboriginal organizations culminated in an agreement that gives us a new beginning and an opportunity to move forward together in partnership.

A cornerstone of the Settlement Agreement is the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This Commission presents a unique opportunity to educate all Canadians on the Indian Residential Schools system. It will be a positive step in forging a new relationship between Aboriginal peoples and other Canadians, a relationship based on the knowledge of our shared history, a respect for each other and a desire to move forward together with a renewed understanding that strong families, strong communities and vibrant cultures and traditions will contribute to a stronger Canada for all of us.
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On behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered an historic formal apology today to former students of Indian Residential Schools and sought forgiveness for the students’ suffering and for the damaging impact the schools had on Aboriginal culture, heritage and language.

“The treatment of children in Indian Residential Schools is a sad chapter in our history,” Prime Minister Harper said. “Today, we recognize this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country. The Government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the Aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly.”

Today’s apology reinforces numerous other government initiatives designed to address the tragic legacy of Indian Residential Schools, including the ongoing implementation of the historic Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement which includes: a Common Experience Payment; an Independent Assessment Process; Commemoration Activities; measures to support healing; and the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“The Government recognizes that the absence of an apology has been an impediment to healing and reconciliation,” said Prime Minister Harper. “Years of work by survivors, communities and Aboriginal organizations culminated in an Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. These are the foundations of a new relationship between Aboriginal people and other Canadians, a relationship based on knowledge of our shared history, a respect for each other and a desire to move forward together with a renewed understanding that strong families, strong communities and vibrant cultures and traditions will contribute to a stronger Canada for all of us.”
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Liberal Opposition Joins in Residential Schools Apology

June 11, 2008
OTTAWA – On the day that survivors of Canada’s residential schools system heard an apology from the federal government, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion offered a second apology on behalf of his own party.

“As the leader of the party that was in government for more than seventy years of the last century, I acknowledge our role and our shared responsibility in this tragedy,” said Mr. Dion. “I am deeply sorry.”

Today in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a formal statement of apology for the legacy of Indian Residential Schools. In his official response, also delivered in the House, Mr. Dion called today an important moment in the history of relations between Canada’s Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.

“We must, together as a nation, face the truth to ensure that we never have to apologize to another generation, that the tragedy of forced assimilation of Aboriginal peoples in Canada never happens again,” he said.

Speaking to Members of Parliament as well as residential school survivors in attendance in the House, Mr. Dion acknowledged the terrible wounds left by residential schools on individuals, families and communities.

“For too long, Canadian governments chose to ignore the consequences of this tragedy instead of trying to understand them, so that the suffering of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities continues to this day,” said Mr. Dion. “Today, we lay the first stone in the building of a new monument. A monument dedicated to truth, reconciliation and healing.”

I stand before you today to offer an apology to former students of Indian residential schools. The treatment of children in these schools is a sad chapter in our history.

For more than a century, Indian residential schools separated over 150,000 aboriginal children from their families and communities.

In the 1870s, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligations to educate aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these schools.

Two primary objectives of the residential school system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.

These objectives were based on the assumption that aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal.

Indeed, some sought, as was infamously said, “to kill the Indian in the child”.

Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country. One hundred and thirty-two federally-supported schools were located in every province and territory, except Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Most schools were operated as joint ventures with Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian and United churches.

The Government of Canada built an educational system in which very young children were often forcibly removed from their homes and often taken far from their communities.

Many were inadequately fed, clothed and housed. All were deprived of the care and nurturing of their parents, grandparents and communities.

First nations, Inuit and Métis languages and cultural practices were prohibited in these schools.

Tragically, some of these children died while attending residential schools, and others never returned home.

The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language.

While some former students have spoken positively about their experiences at residential schools, these stories are far overshadowed by tragic accounts of the emotional, physical and sexual abuse and neglect of helpless children, and their separation from powerless families and communities.

The legacy of Indian residential schools has contributed to social problems that continue to exist in many communities today.

It has taken extraordinary courage for the thousands of survivors who have come forward to speak publicly about the abuse they suffered. It is a testament to their resilience as individuals and to the strengths of their cultures.

Regrettably, many former students are not with us today and died never having received a full apology from the Government of Canada.

The government recognizes that the absence of an apology has been an impediment to healing and reconciliation. Therefore, on behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians, I stand before you, in this chamber so central to our life as a country, to apologize to aboriginal peoples for Canada’s role in the Indian residential schools system.

To the approximately 80,000 living former students and all family members and communities, the Government of Canada now recognizes that it was wrong to forcibly remove children from their homes, and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions, that it created a void in many lives and communities, and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that in separating children from their families, we undermined the ability of many to adequately parent their own children and sowed the seeds for generations to follow, and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that far too often these institutions gave rise to abuse or neglect and were inadequately controlled, and we apologize for failing to protect you.

Not only did you suffer these abuses as children, but as you became parents, you were powerless to protect your own children from suffering the same experience, and for this we are sorry.

The burden of this experience has been on your shoulders for far too long. The burden is properly ours as a government, and as a country. There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian residential schools system to ever again prevail.

You have been working on recovering from this experience for a long time, and in a very real sense we are now joining you on this journey. The Government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly.

We are sorry.
[Prime Minister spoke in aboriginal languages]

In moving toward healing, reconciliation and resolution of the sad legacy of Indian residential schools, the implementation of the Indian residential schools settlement agreement began on September 19, 2007. Years of work by survivors, communities and aboriginal organizations culminated in an agreement that gives us a new beginning and an opportunity to move forward together in partnership.

A cornerstone of the Settlement Agreement is the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It will be a positive step in forging a new relationship between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians, a relationship based on the knowledge of our shared history, a respect for each other and a desire to move forward together with a renewed understanding that strong families, strong communities and vibrant cultures and traditions will contribute to a stronger Canada for all of us.

A cornerstone of the settlement agreement is the Indian residential schools truth and reconciliation commission. This commission represents a unique opportunity to educate all Canadians on the Indian residential schools system. It will be a positive step in forging a new relationship between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians, a relationship based on the knowledge of our shared history, a respect for each other and a desire to move forward with a renewed understanding that strong families, strong communities and vibrant cultures and traditions will contribute to a stronger Canada for all of us.

God bless all of you. God bless our land.

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Hon. Stéphane Dion (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.):

Mr. Speaker, today, Canada comes face to face with some of the darkest chapters of its history. Forced assimilation of aboriginal peoples was carried out through the residential schools system, a system, sadly, older than Confederation itself: schools aimed at “killing the Indian in the child” and eradicating aboriginal identity; schools built on the removal of children from their families and communities; schools designed to rip out of children their aboriginal identity, culture, beliefs and language.

It was a dehumanizing system that resulted in the worst kinds of abuse.

Government policy destroyed the fabric of family in first nations, Métis and Inuit communities. Parents and children were made to feel worthless. Parents and grandparents were given no choice. Their children were stolen from them.

And only today are we starting to measure the devastating costs of these terrible policies.

Today we live in a reality created by the residential schools system, a present that is haunted by this tragic and painful heritage from those first nations, Métis and Inuit children, from their families and their communities, a dark and painful heritage that all Canadians must accept as a part of our history.

For too long, Canadian governments chose denial over truth, and when confronted with the weight of truth, chose silence. For too long, Canadian governments refused to acknowledge their direct role in creating the residential schools system and perpetrating their dark and insidious goal of wiping out aboriginal identity and culture. For too long, Canadian governments chose to ignore the consequences of this tragedy instead of trying to understand them so that the suffering of first nations, Métis and Inuit communities continues to this day.

Let me quote the damning verdict of the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples:

With very few exceptions, neither senior departmental officials nor churchmen nor members of Parliament raised their voices against the assumptions that underlay the [residential schools] system or its abusive character. And, of course, the memory did not and has not faded. It has persisted, festered and become a sorrowful monument--

Today, we lay the first stone in building a new monument, a monument dedicated to truth, reconciliation and a better future.

Today, we representatives of the Canadian people apologize to those who survived residential schools and to those who died as a result of the laws enacted by previous governments and parliaments. By speaking directly to survivors and victims today on the floor of the House of Commons, we apologize to those who died waiting for these words to be spoken and these wrongs acknowledged.

Successive Canadian governments and various churches were complicit in the mental, physical and sexual abuse of thousands of aboriginal children through the residential schools system. As the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, a party that was in government for more than 70 years in the 20th century, I acknowledge our role and our shared responsibility in this tragedy. I am deeply sorry. I apologize.

I am sorry that Canada attempted to eradicate your identity and culture by taking you away from your families when you were children and by building a system to punish you for who you were.

To first nations, Inuit and Métis, mothers and fathers, I am so very sorry we took away your children. I am sorry we did not value you as parents. I am sorry we did not trust and respect you.

Today's apology is about a past that should have been completely different. But it must be also about the future. It must be about collective reconciliation and fundamental changes.

It must be about moving forward together, aboriginal and non-aboriginal, into a future based on respect. It is about trying to find in each of us some of the immense courage that we see in the eyes of those who have survived.

It is about being inspired by the determination of survivors like National Chief Phil Fontaine and Billy Blackwater who had the courage to speak out and pursue justice. It is about building on the work of former first nations member of Parliament Gary Merasty, whose motion calling on the government to apologize to survivors of residential schools was unanimously adopted by members of Parliament on May 1, 2007.

If we are to succeed, we need to be firmly committed to the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Justice Harry LaForme, which is responsible for investigating all aspects of the residential school system in Canada.

This means that we will have to listen to testimony from victims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. This means that we will have to understand why and how Canada let residential schools cause deaths and spread illness, tuberculosis and pneumonia. This also means that we will have to get to the bottom of what really happened to the many children who disappeared into unmarked graves.

This means giving a voice to those who were silenced by Canada. This means giving a name to those whose identities were erased. This means showing our respect to those we humiliated. This means understanding the pain of the parents and families who were abandoned and, as a result of our actions, destroyed forever.

We must listen carefully to the victims who testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and we must be prepared to hear the commission recount a very shameful collective past. We must together, as a nation, face the truth to ensure that never again do we have to apologize to another generation, and that never again is such a tragedy allowed to happen.

I say this as I think of the survivors I met last night. One woman remembers clearly her early days growing up in an isolated community with her family. At age seven, her father took her by canoe to a residential school. She has great memories of life with her parents and siblings up to that day. Yet, she has no memory of the years she spent at the residential school. She survived by erasing all memory of the harsh treatment she endured.

Another survivor, Marion Ironquill-Meadmore, talked about the 10 years she spent in a church-run institution. The first lesson she was taught was that her parents were not worthy. After 10 years, she left the school feeling lost in both the aboriginal and non-aboriginal worlds, ill-equipped to return to the traditional lifestyle of her community, and yet never feeling at home elsewhere.

Reconciliation will require a commitment from Canadian society for action. This means ensuring that all aboriginal Canadians, first nations, Inuit and Métis alike, share in the bounty and opportunity of this country. This means ensuring that we hear the voices of first nations, Métis and Inuit people in their own languages, and that these aboriginal voices and languages continue to enrich the cultural heritage of the world.

We cannot be intimidated by the scale of the challenge or discouraged by the failures of the past. We owe it to all our children to pass along an even better country than we inherited from our parents and we will not do so as long as aboriginal peoples continue to be left behind.

Four years after the conclusion of the five year Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canada will mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation. On that anniversary, it is my sincere hope that aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples in this country will fulfill the dream voiced in the very building 60 years ago by decorated aboriginal veteran Thomas Prince, a dream of first nations, Inuit and Métis people and non-aboriginal Canadians forging a new and lasting relationship. He said in his own words, “so that they can trust each other and...can walk side by side and face this world having faith and confidence in one another”.

Until that day, we humbly offer our apology as the first step on the path to reconciliation and healing.

Merci. Thank you. Meegwetch. Ekosi. Nakurmiik.

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Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier—Sainte-Marie, BQ):

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be here to witness—at last—the Canadian government's apology to the first nations, Métis and Inuit people who were victims of federally funded residential schools.

Nearly 150,000 people have waited their whole lives for this day of truth and reconciliation; 90,000 of them are still with us. These 90,000 are true survivors. Over 100 years ago, the Bryce report revealed that the mortality rate in residential schools was close to 25%. In the Old Sun's residential school in Alberta, the death rate was as high as 47%. That is why I consider these former students to be survivors.

These 150,000 people were abducted from their mothers and fathers. They were separated from their sisters and brothers. They were forcibly uprooted from their communities and their traditional cultures.

For those who cannot imagine the impact that residential schools had on aboriginal peoples, picture a small village, a small community. Now picture all of its children, gone. No more children between 7 and 16 playing in the lanes or the woods, filling the hearts of their elders with their laughter and joy. Imagine the ever-present fear of watching their children disappear when they reached school age.

Rumours abounded about what happened to the children. All these years later, it is still horrifying to think of these things. Children were torn from their parents' arms to be assimilated. They were taken away and raised by people who had but one goal: to “kill the Indian in the child”. Forced to unlearn their languages, these children could no longer communicate with their own parents. All of these things really happened, and they are a part of our collective history.

Between 1934 and 1962, six residential schools were established in Quebec: two in Cree territory, one in Algonquin territory, one in Attikamek territory and two in Innu territory. Just like residential schools everywhere, these ones left wounds caused by abuse, ill treatment and neglect.

Roméo Saganash, himself a survivor of residential schools, told me the story of his brother, who died within a year of entering the school. His family never found out why he died, and it took 40 years—40 long years—for his mother to find the place where he had been buried. It is impossible to erase these indelible scars, impossible to heal the souls shattered by these memories.

Yet this apology is necessary. It is necessary but not sufficient. As Roméo Saganash says, “An apology, once made, is only as good as the actions that come after it.” For those who lost their childhood in the residential schools, the best apology consists of real action that will allow their children and grandchildren to hope in the future. This means that the government must take real action now.

For example, the government is not spending enough to help aboriginal children reach their full potential. For example, when problems occur that affect children, the government recommends that the children be taken out of their community for their own protection. In a way, the government is repeating the mistakes of the past.

For more than a year, we and the first nations of Quebec have been calling for more money for first nations so that children can remain in their communities. Does the government not think that enough aboriginal children were removed from their communities in the past?

Here is another example. The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador has been waiting for over a year and a half for a response from the government so that it can implement its “10,000 possibilities” project.

This 10-year plan is aimed at building 10,000 housing units, helping 10,000 young people graduate from high school and creating 10,000 jobs.

If the Prime Minister's apology is sincere, let him take real action. We will support him.

Finally, there is this disgrace: the government's refusal to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I am very proud that the Bloc Québécois has given clear support to this draft declaration. By agreeing to endorse the declaration, the Prime Minister can send a clear message to aboriginal peoples that he has learned from past mistakes and is making a solemn promise to the victims that their children and grandchildren will have respect and dignity.

I am speaking to you, the aboriginal representatives present on the floor of the House and watching from the gallery. All the members of the Bloc Québécois join me in reaching out to you so that, together, we can build a better future for our children and grandchildren.

That requires a relationship of mutual respect that can only be forged between nations.

On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I extend a sincere apology for the past, and I invite us to build the future together, as nations.

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Hon. Jack Layton (Toronto—Danforth, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in this House to add the voice of the New Democratic Party to the profound apology being offered humbly to first nations, Métis and Inuit on behalf of the Canadian people.

I wish to acknowledge and honour the elders who are with us here today and are participating in this ceremony, the length and breadth of this land at this very moment.

I wish to pay tribute to the first nations, Métis and Inuit leaders who are here with us and to all of those who are guiding their communities through this difficult, emotional, momentous and hope-filled day.

I wish to recognize the children, here in this chamber today and watching at home in gatherings across the land, who also bear witness to the legacy of the residential schools.

Most importantly, I want to say to the survivors of the residential schools, some of whom have joined us here today, we are sorry for what has taken place.

Today we mark a very significant moment for Canada. It is the moment when we, as a Parliament, as a country, take responsibility for one of the most shameful periods in our history. It is the moment for us to finally apologize. It is the moment when we will start to build a shared future, a future based on equality and built on mutual respect and truth.

It was this Parliament that enacted, 151 years ago, the racist legislation that established the residential schools. This Parliament chose to treat first nations, Métis and Inuit people as not equally human. It set out to kill the Indian in the child. That choice was horribly wrong. It led to incredible suffering. It denied first nations, Métis and Inuit the basic freedom to choose how to live their lives. For those wrongs that we have committed, we are truly sorry.

Our choice denied their children the love and nurturing of their own families and communities.

It denied children the pride and self-esteem that come from learning one's heritage, language, culture and traditions. In addition to these wounds, they experienced our neglect, inadequate health care, mistreatment and sexual abuse, all of which harmed so many children and even killed some.

Because of Canada's policies, those who survived learned to be ashamed of who they are.

For these terrible actions, we are sorry.

The legacy of residential schools casts a shadow over our country. It tore apart families and communities for generations, and this continues to be felt, and felt very personally.

Nearly every first nations person of my age that I have met is a survivor. Many are also the children of survivors.

One of those children told me about her mother, a Cree from northern Quebec, who had 12 of her 14 children taken from her. Her brother died in a residential school, but their mother was never told why or how. She was never told where her son was buried. She did not have the right to pay tribute to his life or his death. She could not mourn or say her final goodbyes to her child, as every mother should.

Many years later, her daughter was working in northern Ontario and she happened to mention the story of her brother to a local. He said, “I know where your brother is buried”. They went to the graveyard and he pointed to a spot beside a headstone, and said, “Your brother is buried here, unmarked”.
The pain inflicted by the residential schools is deeply felt by these children, who were forced to attend, and by the parents who had their children stolen from them. It is still felt in first nations, Métis and Inuit communities across the country.

The destruction of family and community ties, the psychological wounds, the loss of language and culture, and substandard education all led to widespread poverty, which remains rampant in first nations, Métis and Inuit communities today.

The horrors of the residential schools continue to harm even those who never experienced them personally.

There can be no equivocation. The laws consciously enacted in this House put the residential schools into place and kept them going for many years.
It is in this House that we must start the process of reconciliation. That is why we are here together today and why we are here together to say we are sorry. This is a crucial first step.

However, reconciliation must be built through positive steps that show respect and restore trust. This apology must not be an end; it must be a beginning.

What is needed is a commitment to never again allow such a travesty of justice and transgression against equality to occur.

It begins with officially recognizing the rights and cultures of first nations, Métis and Inuit peoples by signing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

But reconciliation also means that, as a Parliament and as a country, we must take action to address the terrible inequality faced by first nations, Métis and Inuit communities. We can start by restoring the nation-to-nation relationship between the Government of Canada and first nations, Métis and the Inuit.

Even as we speak here today, thousands of aboriginal children are without proper schools or clean water, adequate food, their own bed, good health care, safety, comfort, land and rights.

We can no longer throw up our hands and say, “There's nothing we can do”. Taking responsibility and working toward reconciliation means saying, “We must act together to resolve this”.

Let us reverse the horrific and shameful statistics afflicting aboriginal populations, now: the high rates of poverty, suicide, the poor or having no education, overcrowding, crumbling housing, and unsafe drinking water. Let us make sure that all survivors of the residential schools receive the recognition and compensation that is due to them.

We must make a serious, collective commitment. All of us together—first nations, Métis and Inuit, Canadians who have been here for generations and new Canadians as well—must build a future based on fairness, equality and respect.

This must be our deep collective commitment.

Let us all, first nations, Métis, Inuit, Canadians who have been here for generations, and new Canadians, build a fair, equal and respectful Canada for all.
Meegwetch. Ekosi. Nakurmiik.

The Speaker:
Pursuant to order made earlier today, the House will now resolve itself into committee of the whole. I will now leave the chair.

(House in committee of the whole to recognize representatives of the Assembly of First Nations, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis National Council and Native Women's Association of Canada, Mr. Peter Milliken in the chair)

[And the representatives being present in the chamber:]

The Speaker:

I call upon Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
[Table of Contents]

Chief Phil Fontaine (National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations):

Prime Minister, Chief Justice, members of the House, elders, survivors, Canadians: for our parents, our grandparents, great grandparents, indeed for all of the generations which have preceded us, this day testifies to nothing less than the achievement of the impossible.

This morning our elders held a condolence ceremony for those who never heard an apology, never received compensation, yet courageously fought assimilation so that we could witness this day.

Together we remember and honour them for it was they who suffered the most as they witnessed generation after generation of their children taken from their families' love and guidance. For the generations that will follow us, we bear witness today in this House that our survival as first nations peoples in this land is affirmed forever.

Therefore, the significance of this day is not just about what has been but, equally important, what is to come. Never again will this House consider us the Indian problem just for being who we are.

We heard the Government of Canada take full responsibility for this dreadful chapter in our shared history. We heard the Prime Minister declare that this will never happen again. Finally, we heard Canada say it is sorry.

Brave survivors, through the telling of their painful stories, have stripped white supremacy of its authority and legitimacy. The irresistibility of speaking truth to power is real.

Today is not the result of a political game. Instead, it is something that shows the righteousness and importance of our struggle. We know we have many difficult issues to handle. There are many fights still to be fought.

What happened today signifies a new dawn in the relationship between us and the rest of Canada. We are and always have been an indispensable part of the Canadian identity.

Our peoples, our history, and our present being are the essence of Canada. The attempts to erase our identities hurt us deeply, but it also hurt all Canadians and impoverished the character of this nation.

We must not falter in our duty now. Emboldened by this spectacle of history, it is possible to end our racial nightmare together. The memories of residential schools sometimes cut like merciless knives at our souls. This day will help us to put that pain behind us.

But it signifies something even more important: a respectful and, therefore, liberating relationship between us and the rest of Canada.

Together we can achieve the greatness our country deserves. The apology today is founded upon, more than anything else, the recognition that we all own our own lives and destinies, the only true foundation for a society where peoples can flourish.

We must now capture a new spirit and vision to meet the challenges of the future.

As a great statesman once said, we are all part of one “garment of destiny”. The differences between us are not blood or colour and “the ties that bind us are deeper than those that separate us”. The “common road of hope” will bring us to reconciliation more than any words, laws or legal claims ever could.

We still have to struggle, but now we are in this together.
I reach out to all Canadians today in this spirit of reconciliation.
Meegwetch.

The Speaker:
I now call on Patrick Brazeau, the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

Chief Patrick Brazeau (National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples):
Members of the House, it is indeed an honour and a pleasure to be here witnessing this historic day.

Not only is it a historic day, but it is a positive step forward in the history of this great country of ours.

I would like to thank the Prime Minister for his leadership, and for something that none of his predecessors has done, and that is to do the humane, moral and right thing.

Thank you.

More importantly, this day is about the survivors and those of you in the gallery. I am proud to be here on this floor and representing some of you.

I want you to know that even though you have attended residential schools, in my heart and in my soul you are true role models. Because of your resiliency, your courage and your strength, you have made me the strong aboriginal Algonquin Canadian that I am today, as you have others across this great land of ours.

Surely in a country that the entire world knows because of its great opportunities and hope, surely that belongs to those from whom it was taken so long ago. Today for me personally, not only is it a great day to be an aboriginal person or an Algonquin, but I am proud to be an aboriginal Canadian.

Meegwetch.

The Speaker:

Order, please. I now recognize Mary Simon, the President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

Ms. Mary Simon (President Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami):
Mr. Prime Minister:
[Ms. Simon spoke in Inuktitut]
[English]
Mr. Prime Minister, I spoke first in my Inuit language because I wanted to illustrate to you that our language and culture are still strong.

I have to face you to say this, Mr. Prime Minister, because it comes from the bottom of my heart. It took great courage for you to express your sorrow and apology to our people, the Inuit, to first nations, and to Métis, and we thank you very much for it.

[Ms. Simon spoke in Inuktitut]
[English]

I am one of those people who have dreamed for this day. There have been times in this long journey when I despaired that this would ever happen.

However, after listening to the Prime Minister and the leaders of the political parties, I am filled with hope and compassion for my fellow aboriginal Canadians as I stand among them here with you and your fellow ministers today, Mr. Prime Minister.

I am also filled with optimism that this action by the Government of Canada and the generosity in the words chosen to convey this apology will help all of us mark the end of this dark period in our collective history as a nation.

Let us not be lulled into an impression that when the sun rises tomorrow morning, the pain and scars will miraculously be gone. They will not.

But a new day has dawned, a new day heralded by a commitment to reconciliation and building a new relationship with Inuit, Métis and first nations.

Let us now join forces with the common goal of working together to ensure that this apology opens the door to a new chapter in our lives as aboriginal peoples and in our place in Canada.

There is much hard work to be done. We need the help and support of all thoughtful Canadians and our governments to rebuild strong and healthy families and communities.

This can be achieved only when dignity, confidence and respect for traditional values and human rights once again become part of our daily lives and are mirrored in our relationships with governments and other Canadians.

I stand here today ready to work with you, as Inuit have always done, to craft new solutions and new arrangements based on mutual respect and mutual responsibility.

Thank you. May wisdom and compassion guide our efforts.

The Speaker:
Order, please. I now call on Clem Chartier, president of the Métis National Council.

Mr. Clem Chartier (President of the Métis National Council):

Prime Minister, members of Parliament, friends, and Canadian citizens, it is a great day.

On behalf of the Métis Nation, I want to express a deep sense of thanks and gratitude to the Prime Minister today for offering this most sincere apology to those people who have experienced the Indian residential schools system.

It has been a long time coming, but it has been well received. I hope and I pray that it will resonate in the communities of those people who have been affected.

The Prime Minister and the Minister of Indian Affairs know that although I am very sincere and happy, perhaps, that this is happening, I also feel deeply conflicted, because there is still misunderstanding about the situation of the Métis Nation, our history and our contemporary situation.

We have had serious discussions with the Minister of Indian Affairs. We have agreed, and I believe the Prime Minister is supportive, that we will, based on this apology today, address those issues that are outstanding to our people, the Métis. I believe those statements made today about the dark days of the assimilation policies and I believe those actions that took place in this House will be addressed and hopefully corrected in the future.

I really do feel conflicted, because I am one of the survivors of a Métis residential school, which was no different from Indian residential schools except for the question of who paid. As for who paid, it was those young people who went there, people like Don, people like me. We paid.

I hope and I do believe sincerely in the words of the minister that we will address this. I said that the Métis Nation would be here to share this day with those people who have waited for so long. We want to celebrate, and we do celebrate, with them, with you, with all Canadians, because this is a day for all Canadians. It is a day for us to move forward.

I know deep in my heart that the party leaders and the Prime Minister who spoke today spoke with sincerity, not with the theatrics of the Commons. That has been set aside. I can see that. I can feel that. I know that it is deep and it is real.

Finally, Prime Minister, the Métis Nation of western Canada, which has been excluded from many things by the workings of this House and its policies, wants in.
Thank you.

The Speaker:
Order, please. I now call on Beverley Jacobs, the President of the Native Women's Association of Canada.

[Ms. Jacobs spoke in Mohawk language]
What I said in my Mohawk language is, “Greetings of peace to you”. My nation is Mohawk of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Bear Clan, and my real name is Gowehgyuseh, which means “She is visiting”.

I am here to represent the Native Women's Association of Canada and the women that we represent have a statement. It is about the respect of aboriginal women in this country.

Prior to the residential schools system, prior to colonization, the women in our communities were very well respected and honoured for the role that they have in our communities as being the life givers, being the caretakers of the spirit that we bring to mother earth. We have been given those responsibilities to look after our children and to bring that spirit into this physical world.

Residential schools caused so much harm to that respect and to that honour. There were ceremonies for young men and for young women that were taken away for generations in residential schools. Now we have our language still, we have our ceremonies, we have our elders, and we have to revitalize those ceremonies and the respect for our people not only within Canadian society but even within our own peoples.

I want to say that I come here speaking from my heart, because two generations ago, my grandmother, being a Mohawk woman, was beaten, sexually beaten and physically beaten, for being a Mohawk woman. She did not pass that on. She did not pass it on to my mother and her siblings, and so that matriarchal system that we have was directly affected. Luckily, I was raised in a community where it has been revitalized by all of our mothers.

I want to say that as mothers, we teach our boys and our girls, our men and our women equally. That is what I am here to say, that although it may be the Native Women's Association, we also represent men and women because that is our responsibility. It is not just about women's issues, it is about making sure that we have strong nations again. That is what I am here to say.

We have given thanks to you for your apology. I have to also give you credit for standing up. I did not see any other governments before today come forward and apologize, so I do thank you for that. But in return, the Native Women's Association wants respect.

I have just one last thing to say. To all of the leaders of the Liberals, the Bloc and NDP, thank you, as well, for your words because now it is about our responsibilities today, the decisions that we make today and how they will affect seven generations from now.

My ancestors did the same seven generations ago and they tried hard to fight against you because they knew what was happening. They knew what was coming, but we have had so much impact from colonization and that is what we are dealing with today.

Women have taken the brunt of it all.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here at this moment in time to talk about those realities that we are dealing with today.

What is it that this government is going to do in the future to help our people? Because we are dealing with major human rights violations that have occurred to many generations: my language, my culture and my spirituality. I know that I want to transfer those to my children and my grandchildren, and their children, and so on.

What is going to be provided? That is my question. I know that is the question from all of us. That is what we would like to continue to work on, in partnership.

On June 11, 2008 Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood in the House of Commons and apologized to Indian Residential School and Intergenerational Survivors. The formal government apology is required under the Indian Residential School Agreement along with the Common Experience Payment and the Truth Reconciliation Commission agreed to by former Prime Minister Paul Martin. The words “we are sorry” sought for years by those lobbying the Federal Government to formally apologize to the approximately 90,000 survivors currently living brings some hope that a new day has dawned and that things will be done differently.

The AFN headed by National Chief Phil Fontaine a survivor gave a moving speech to the House following by comments from the opposition leaders. There were 11 Aboriginal leaders on the floor of the House of Commons including 5 Residential School survivors, among them Mrs. Marguerite Wabano the oldest living survivor at 104 years old. Many years have passed since the lobbying, court cases and disclosures began by countless survivors. Without the dedication of many First Nations leaders, this day would not have come about. Following the most intense negotiations and lobbying, survivors finally heard the words that brought tears, remembrance, anger and hope.

Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus says “This is a good beginning...a step in the right direction. The apology sounded sincere and it is now a personal decision for survivors to accept or not accept the apology. What is important here is the follow up, after the apology. The Prime Minister speaks of a new relationship with a shared history, new understanding and respect.” To paraphrase Nelson Mandela, “True reconciliation does not lie in merely forgetting the past. We must acknowledge and accept our past actions before we can begin to make amends and move forward together”

National Chief Erasmus closed by saying, “I personally thank the survivors for their resilience, strength and courage in addressing this shameful chapter in Canadian history. The survivors were not responsible for what occurred in Residential School and were the ones to shed light on the issues that resulted in the Indian Residential School Agreement. We also remember the spirits of those who did not survive or who have passed on before hearing the apology.”

“We are thankful that the Prime Minister connected the current social problems to the legacy of Indian Residential Schools that continue to afflict First Nations communities today. First Nations experienced physical, sexual, psychological, spiritual and emotional trauma at residential schools that remained in operation until 1996.”

The Prime Minister admitted that the assimilation policies were sad and wrong and that social problems such as lack of parenting skills are directly related to the maltreatment at these institutions. Assimilation policies such as separation from family, community and cultural erosion aimed at “taking the Indian out of the child” impacted the family unit and created children ashamed of being Indian.
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NATIONAL NATIVE ADDICTIONS PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATION HOPES GOVERNMENT OF CANADA’S APOLOGY WILL OPEN THE DOOR TO UNDERSTANDING LARGER ISSUE OF ABORIGINAL CHILDREN’S REMOVAL FROM THEIR FAMILY

Muskoday, Saskatchewan, June 16, 2008. The National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation welcomes the government of Canada’s apology to First Nations and Inuit peoples who suffered from the impact of Residential Schools. This apology brings publicly to light the tragic repercussions from policies designed to expropriate and assimilate First Nations and Inuit Peoples in Canada.

The apology will not veil the past, but recognizing that the policy to "kill the Indian in the child" as a means to erode their parents rights to preserve their autonomy, culture and land was wrong, raises hope for the future. It is anticipated that this recognition and understanding will begin to purge present and future policies, so that First Nations and Inuit People in Canada will now be free to pursue their own legitimate dreams and aspirations.

As a National Aboriginal organisation working to bring closer the time when First Nations and Inuit people are able to recover from their historical trauma and leave behind the cycle of alcohol and drug addictions, the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation welcomes this major step forward.

Just as the 1991 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples’ audiences, its 1996 Report and the creation of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation had a direct role in the process leading to the recognition of the Residential School system and its intergenerational impact on Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, NNAPF believes that the new Healing and Reconciliation Commission launched June 1st will also deepen understanding of the root causes driving the many social problems in First Nations and Inuit communities today.

The National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation also believes that the door is now open to reach another level of understanding: the fact that Residential Schools were a partial component of a much larger system aimed at removing children from their family. This policy, implemented by all colonial powers, still affect the destiny of millions of peoples all over the world, and is still in place in Canada today through the Child Welfare system, with major psychological and social impact on Aboriginal children, their families and communities.

As Cindy Blackstock, from the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society declared recently "in reviewing the available evidence, what is clear is that there are more First Nations children living in state care today than at any time in history - including during the height of the residential school operations." Compared to non-aboriginal children in custody, the statistics are staggering.

The widespread adoption of Aboriginal children out to non-native families in the '60s, '70s and early '80s - was instaured on the heels of the Residential School closures. By the late 1970s, "as many as one in three status Indian or Metis children were removed - at least temporarily - from their homes. In some provinces, one in two spent a childhood as a permanent ward of the government. Many were adopted into white homes" (Ottawa Citizen, April 18, 1998).

This still very little known tragic issue of Aboriginal Children once again taken from their family (and often referred to as the sixties Scoop) is on a par, as far as the repercussions on First Nations families and communities are concerned, with the Residential School issue.

"In many instances, children were literally scooped from their homes without knowledge or consent of families and/or their communities. Many First Nations charged that in many cases where consent was not given, government authorities and social workers acted under the colonial assumption that native people were culturally inferior (Sandra Kakeeway – The First Perspective) ".

Anyone who has children, whether parents, grandparents, uncles or aunts can for a moment stop and imagine the pain from having the children in their family taken away forcibly, with no recourse or power to prevent it. Refuge in alcohol, drug addictions and suicide is the hallmark of individual and collective desperation, disempowerment, loss of dignity and identity. Redress of this situation will make Canada a greater and healthier country.

The National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation will continue to welcome any initiative advancing a sincere process of healing and reconciliation, knowing that it will have a powerful effect on its own collaborative vision "to cultivate interdependent and empowering relationships as we reclaim and reconnect to our cultural strengths, purpose and place on earth".

Urban Native Youth Association’s response the Government of Canada's Apology to Residential School Survivors

While I was greatly surprised at the length and depth to which the Prime Minister went in his apology to residential school survivors, I was also dismayed by the things that were blatantly absent.

It was clear that if Harper had consulted the other three party leaders who were elected by voters to represent their interests as Canadians, his apology would have been much closer to what it needed to be. This was made clear by the applause that the other leaders garnered and the silence that followed Harper’s speech in many community venues across the country. The silence was indicative of what was lacking and how much more needs to be done before survivors and their descendants can applaud the efforts of the Government of Canada. Even the Aboriginal leaders who were the honored guests were stunned into near silence by what I can only assume was their own family connections to the overwhelming pain that arose during the day.

At a time when the Prime Minister could have demonstrated a true commitment to forging a new relationship with Aboriginal people, he chose not to work with Aboriginal leaders or residential school survivors to develop the apology. I can only imagine how meaningful the apology would have been to the Aboriginal community if he had chosen to walk the walk instead of talk the talk of reconciliation.

Some of the important things that the Prime Minister chose not to share with Canadians include the destruction of the cultural and spiritual traditions that would have helped our communities to recover from the residential school experiences, and the learned negative behaviors of violence, women hating, homophobia, and Elder abuse. While the other party leaders filled in many of the gaps including the importance of what happens next, Canada’s refusal to sign onto the International Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the ongoing intergenerational effects, and the continued racist attitudes that see our children being taken into government ‘care’ at alarming rates, three of the most important things that were not mentioned by anyone were the importance of providing meaningful opportunities for our youth who make up over 60% of the Aboriginal population, the spiritual abuse that took place, and the lack of education in these so called schools.

Few people realize the broader effects that the residential school experience has had on our communities beyond the overwhelming destruction of our families and individual lives. If the assimilationist policies of the Government of Canada has not destroyed or severely compromised the systems that our ancestors had developed in the areas of negotiating, governance, caring for the land, and childrearing, we would not be facing many of the broader community issues that we are today.

After the apology, I was honored to attend student celebrations at our two alternate schools. While I was so proud to see these young people in school, I was also struck by the realization that the need for alternate schools stem directly from the residential school experience. I believe that the main reasons our youth do not do well academically or socially in mainstream schools is because of the lack of respect in our communities for education due to the learned fear of educational institutions, the social issues we face that stem from Canadian assimilation policies, and the racism that persists throughout this country as non-Aboriginal people judge us for those social issues we are forced to overcome due to all of the external forces that led to them.

While I hope this is the dawn of a new day for Canadian and Aboriginal relations, I am reminded of the six year struggle we have faced to build a Native Youth Centre in Vancouver. Prime Minister Harper acknowledges the ongoing effects of the residential school experience, but has not made any meaningful commitment to foster positive change, especially for our young people. Although we have secured six million dollars including the land, the Government of Canada and the Province of BC have yet to make any meaningful contribution to this important youth-led initiative which has overwhelming community support and can help youth to make meaningful change in their lives.

As many have stated, it will take much more than an apology to help our communities move beyond the dark times that many of us are facing as a direct result of the residential school experiences.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada President Beverley Jacobs made a powerful address to members of the House of Commons yesterday during the federal government’s historic apology to residential school survivors. In a frank address, President Jacobs pointed out to the government that Aboriginal women deserve respect because they bore the brunt of residential school because of the patriarchal policies. “Prior to the residential school system and prior to colonization, our women were respected and honoured in our communities for being the life givers and the caretakers of the spirit that we bring into this mother, our earth. Over the decades that respect for our women has been lost and our women have become victims of abuse and violence which has lead to staggering numbers of missing and murdered. It’s time to stop the cycle of violence.”

So a day later, President Jacobs is looking to next steps. She is renewing her calls for the Federal Government to sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Further, she is urging political leaders to take what they learned yesterday from residential school survivors and to use their stories to address the issues which have plagued Aboriginal peoples for decades.

A copy of President Jacob’s comments in the House of Commons is available on the Native Women’s Association of Canada website at: www.nwac-hq.org

The Native Women’s Association of Canada is an aggregate of 13 native women’s organizations and is the national voice of Aboriginal women in Canada.
- - -

AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine acknowledged Canada's Parliament for a sincere apology delivered by Prime Minister Harper. The apology will hopefully begin a healing process for survivors, their families and loved ones as Canada's past history of residential schools is acknowledged.

"Parliament acknowledged the wrongs of the past in the House of Commons with survivors and their families present, before church leaders, with the Prime Minister and all House leaders addressing Parliament, the nation and the world," said National Chief Phil Fontaine. "The apology acknowledged that it was wrong to attack our culture, our faith, our identity and our autonomy as
peoples. It acknowledged that these attacks were done in the most egregious
manner, by depriving generations of children of the love and support of their
parents, their culture, and their identity. This apology can, I believe, be
viewed as a sincere attempt to heal past wounds."

The National Chief added that the apology not only acknowledged the past, but noted that by addressing this tragic chapter of Canadian history, Canada can begin to turn a page of its history. The National Chief noted that the Prime Minister and House leaders spoke of a future in which Canada has
promised to respect First Nations rights and would never again try to
denigrate or destroy the identity of First Nations as distinct peoples; or
compromise First Nations culture and families.

"For survivors the apology is not only about healing past wounds, but is
also about building a new relationship with Canada and to foster mutual trust
and respect, for themselves, their children and grandchildren." said National
Chief Phil Fontaine. "This is why the apology is historic, residential school
students, who were persecuted as children, have not only survived; they are
now guiding Canada toward reconciliation. It is also important for all
Canadians that we shed a light on this hidden aspect of our history so that we
can begin to better understand and share with all Canadians our country's
past."

"I also want to acknowledge that some survivors may find it difficult to
accept this apology. The experiences of all survivors may be shared but each
case is unique and individual. I personally hope that the healing can begin for all survivors. I also want to say that this is the start of the process for Truth and Reconciliation and the very important work that will begin under the guidance of Justice Harry Laforme," the National Chief concluded.

The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing
First Nations citizens in Canada.

AFN National Chief says apology shows Canada coming to terms with its past

TORONTO, June 12, 2008

In his first public speech since the federal government's formal apology to aboriginal students who suffered abuse and torment in the residential schooling system, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine said today the apology shows Canada is coming to terms with its past.

In a heartfelt speech today to delegates attending the CAW's Collective
Bargaining and Political Action Convention in Toronto, Chief Fontaine thanked
CAW President Buzz Hargrove and all CAW members for their ongoing support of social justice issues facing Canada's First Nations.

Chief Fontaine called the government's apology a momentous occasion for
Canada. This apology will help the country come to terms with its past and
accept full responsibility for the pain inflicted on so many aboriginal
children, Fontaine said.

Hargrove commended Chief Fontaine on his leadership role in forcing the
government to take the appropriate step in issuing a formal apology to
aboriginals.

"This apology didn't happen by chance," said Hargrove. "It happened
because of wonderful people like Chief Fontaine committed to the fight for
social justice."

Under the federal government's residential school system, in place until
the mid 1970s when most residential schools closed, about 150,000 First
Nations, Inuit and Metis children were removed from their families and put
into about 130 residential schools across the country. The last residential
school was closed in 1996.

Fontaine, also a victim of the residential school system, said that the
government's apology must also be seen as a time for this country turn the
page on a black period in Canadian history. Fontaine said he wants this to now
be part of his past as First Nations people tackle the challenges that lay
ahead - including working towards the eradication of First Nations poverty.

The CAW has supported the Make Poverty History for First Nations campaign
and has worked with the AFN on joint projects including the refurbishment of
the Native Canadian Centre in Toronto and well repairs in the Little
Salmon/Carmacks First Nation in the Yukon.

"You've been with us every step of the way in our struggle," said
Fontaine. "We deeply and most sincerely appreciate what you've done for us."

CAW President Buzz Hargrove told Chief Fontaine that the union is
committed to continue working with the First Nations people on social justice
issues across the country.

The Nisga'a Nation's Legislative Assembly, known as Wilp Si'Ayuukhl Nisga'a, took time to witness a historic moment in Canada's history as Prime Minister Harper on behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians, apologized for the reprehensible Indian Residential School Policy.

Mr. Kevin McKay, Chairperson of the Nisga'a Lisims Government addressed the members of Wilp Si'Ayuukhl Nisga'a following the apology by Prime Minister Stephen Harper for Canada's Indian Residential Schools Policy. "It is an understatement to say that this apology is long overdue," stated Kevin McKay, "Of particular importance to the Nisga'a Nation was the statement by Liberal Party Leader, the Honourable Stéphane Dion, that this was a shared
responsibility of the various governments of Canada over 100 years of
maintaining this government policy which affected more than 150,000 aboriginal children."

"The Nisga'a Nation is pleased with the light that this apology has shed
on this very dark chapter of Canadian history," Mr. McKay stated, "With the
apology of the Prime Minister, with the statements by each of the leaders of
the opposition parties and with the statements of the National Aboriginal
leaders, the apology we witnessed today has set in motion a window of
opportunity unprecedented in Canadian history to enable residential school
survivors and their families to confront and conquer the painful memories and
demons that continue to plague aboriginal people, communities and cultures."

The stories recounting the plight of those still suffering and still in need of help will be heard as a result of today's events. Mr. Kevin McKay stated, "We feel that the acceptability of the apology is very much a personal decision of residential school survivors. The Nisga'a Nation will consider the sincerity of the Prime Minister's apology on the basis of the policies and actions of the government in the days and years to come. Only history will determine the degree of its sincerity."

Mr. McKay concluded, "The residential school policy is a subset of a more comprehensive and equally reprehensible policy that is enshrined in the Indian Act. If you look around, the Indian Act survives and thrives still today. It
is an ill-fated, colonial prescription and we are still dealing with its after-effects. The Nisga'a Final Agreement, signed on May 11, 2000 with Canada
and British Columbia, is the Nisga'a Nation's prescription to overcome these
very dark policies and we are now calling on the Government of Canada to end
its ongoing breach of the Nisga'a Final Agreement as it has failed to negotiate our fiscal arrangements since they expired in March 2006."

The Nisga'a Nation is further calling on the government to honour its agreements and implement Land Claim agreements in a timely, fair and equitable manner as proposed by the Land Claims Agreement Coalition and affirmed by the recent Report of the Senate Committee.

Following is a statement issued by interim Grand Chief Gerald Antoine of the Dehcho First Nations on the impending apology to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada by Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

On Wednesday June 11, the Prime Minister is scheduled to deliver an apology on behalf of Canada to Indigenous Peoples for the indignities imposed on us in residential schools.

It is appropriate.The residential schools devastated the lives of many of our people. Some are still in denial about it generations later.

People systematically oppressed learn to live with oppression as “normal”.. What may appear to be normal really is not.

The residential school system:

• Removed children from the influence of their parents so they could be assimilated into a “civilized” life style;
• expected that in three generations all Indigenous People would be sedentary farmers producing agricultural products for Canada;
• forbade children from speaking their own language;
• ridiculed and laughed at children who were homesick or longed for their parents;
• “if they even think of themselves as Indian they will be ashamed.” (Roman Catholic Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin)

The system shattered what was left of our societies after a history of oppression. Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister wrote : “Tell our friends in Europe that the Indian and the Metis will be held down with a firm hand until the country is overrun, owned and operated by White settlers.” MacDonald followed up by naming people in the military as directors-general of “Indian Affairs”. The interests of European business, with the support of governments, had launched numerous initiatives to eliminate Indigenous People from North America. The French Academy of Sciences even hosted a conference in the 1800 which tried – unsuccessfully -- to find out if we were human. That did not stop many attempts to destroy our societies. Examples:

• the use of “germ warfare” which historians estimate killed nine of every 10 Indigenous men, women and children in North America;
• government legislation and policy was initiated to prevent us from maintaining economic and political independence;
• countless police and army actions removed people from their lands;
• our spiritual and religious practices were criminalized and our spiritual and political leaders imprisoned without even Canadian due process;
• our people were corralled on reservations without and of Canada’s legal rights (e.g. to meet, vote, to trade or engage legal counsel)
• we were considered non-persons in Canada until 1963.

This was the context in which residential schools were systematically introduced 97 years ago. Those of us left were shattered and the impacts are still with us:

• many lost their language;
• we lost respect of self, family and community;
• we lost trust in ourselves and others;
• as children, we never learned parenting skills:
• we lost knowledge of cultural gender relationships;
• we lost our self-esteem
• We were denied any opportunity to learn the traditional spirituality, ceremonies and ways of worship our Creator expects of us;
• We lost self-discipline;
• We lost our connections to the land;
• We lost our connections to traditional diet;
• We lost our stories, oral history, and knowledge of cosmology;
• We were denied any opportunity to learn the skills of our cultures such as songs, dances, ceremonies, hunting, and knowledge of the land, the basis of our economic independence; and
• We lost the capacity for self-determination.

The historic relationship between Canada and Indigenous Peoples is assimilation. This oppressive ideology resulted in the creation of the culture of Indian Affairs. a culture which exists to this day. It still works against the expressed interests of Indigenous communities, on the pretext that we are incapable of taking care of ourselves.

Yes, it is good and proper for Canada to apologize for the wrongs of the residential school. But, saying “I’m sorry” doesn’t fix anything. What does the bible say? “Before your offerings are acceptable to God, you have to go and make amends with your brother.”

When Canada dismantles Indian Affairs and the Treasury Board vote for funds to meet Treaty obligations are transferred directly to First Nations, then recovery can begin.

When Canada recognizes that it is a state with delegated authority and not sovereign over Indigenous communities, then healing will begin.

When Canada shares the wealth of Indigenous lands equitably with Indigenous communities, then the healing will begin.

When Canada recognizes its addiction to power and accepts the reality that Indigenous peoples agreed to share and live in peace and not to give their lands, resources and very lives so that the Queen’s “children” could have it all for themselves, then the healing will begin for Canada and for us.
- - -

Canada's Apology a Critical Step for Aboriginal People
Press Release June 11, 2008

COAST SALISH TRADITIONAL TERRITORY/WEST VANCOUVER, June 11 - First Nations Leaders today welcomed Prime Minister Stephen Harper's statement of apology on behalf of Canada for the government's role in the Indian Residential School System. Today the Leadership Council stands in support of residential school survivors and their families. This is also a day to remember those who died because of the residential school system.

"The full story of the residential school system's impact on our people has yet to be told," said Grand Chief Edward John of the First Nations Summit. "The responses to the apology are both individual and collective. It is extremely important that we respect the many survivors who, in their own discretion and time, will consider the Prime Minister's apology and determine how, in their own interest, each of them will deal with it. Collectively, we celebrate and stand on the dignity of who we are and celebrate our survival. Together, we will build for our individual and collective well-being. We ask Canadians to join with us in this important historical moment to talk about and understand the depths and consequences of the multi-layered and intergenerational impacts on our people."

"Despite the best efforts of the residential school system to destroy our language and culture, thanks to the resilience of the survivors and our ancestors, our identity and culture is still very much alive today and will continue to thrive, as will our languages, well into the future," said Regional Chief A-in-chut (Shawn Atleo) of the BC Assembly of First Nations, "I am hopeful today's apology can help the survivors in their individual journeys towards healing and as my Granny Elsie says, that tomorrow all Canadians will work together to 'turn this heavy page' of our dark history".

"For most Canadians it would be considered absolutely criminal to think of children being forcibly removed from their families, experiencing sexual and physical abuse, living in substandard conditions and being stripped of their cultural identity," said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs. "By apologizing publicly for the residential school atrocities, we hope that all Canadians will learn from the past and ensure that no such disgusting genocidal programs are ever designed, legislated and carried out in Canada ever again".

Although it would be impossible for an apology from the Government of Canada to rectify the decades of abuse and cultural genocide experienced at residential schools, it is a critical step forward in the path to reconciliation.

The First Nations Leadership Council is comprised of the political executives of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Summit, and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.

The Council works together to politically represent the interests of First Nations in British Columbia and develop strategies and actions to bring about significant and substantive changes to government policy that will benefit all First Nations in British Columbia.

Canada needs to demonstrate the sincerity of its apology for the legacy of Indian Residential Schools by including First Nations people in the country's future.

Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief John Beaucage joined thousands of Canadians who watched Stephen Harper's 3,600-word apology to First Nation, Metis and Inuit people for what the Prime Minister called "a sad chapter in our history."

"Our first thoughts today are for our Elders," said Beaucage. "Many of
them have suffered life-long physical and emotional pain because of their
residential school experiences."

"We are so proud that many Anishinabek lived long enough to hear Canada's apology to them. But the true test of Mr. Harper's words will be his
government's actions to help our children have a better future than their
parents and grandparents."

"We will know the apology was sincere when our citizens have access to
the same homes, jobs, education and health care as all Canadians," said
Beaucage.

The Grand Council Chief said the Prime Minister's apology sounded genuine and he was looking forward to upcoming bilateral discussions about Anishinabek Nation priorities.

Following the upcoming Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Assembly in
Whitefish River FN, Beaucage will present Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl
with a proposal to fund a language strategy that would include the
establishment of a new immersion language institute to ensure the survival of
the Ojiway language within the Anishinabek Nation. A language institute would
help undo the loss of language experienced by most of the 80,000 residential
school survivors.

"The devastating loss of language and culture suffered by First Nations
people is one of the most tragic and long-lasting effects of the Indian
residential school system. Today, many Anishinabek still are unable to speak
their Native language," said Grand Council Chief. "This apology needs to be
the catalyst for restoring First Nations languages. Now that we've taken steps
towards healing and reconciliation, Anishinaabemowin, our Ojibway language,
cannot be allowed to die."

The Anishinabek Nation incorporated the Union of Ontario Indians as its
secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 42 member First
Nations across Ontario. The Union of Ontario Indians is the oldest political
organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of
Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Stan Beardy welcomes and acknowledges today’s apology by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the House of Commons in Ottawa for the abuse suffered through Residential Schools by First Nations people across Canada.

“Today’s formal recognition of wrong-doing by Canada is crucial not only for the healing of the NAN members affected by residential schools, but also for their respect and dignity. This acknowledgement of injustice means that the healing process for First Nations people across the country can finally begin,” said NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy, who was present in the House of Commons for the apology.

“Today is an important occasion not only for First Nations but for all of Canada. On behalf of the people of Nishnawbe Aski I thank the Government of Canada for the Prime Minister’s apology, and I hope that First Nations can finally begin to put to rest the devastating legacy of this shameful chapter of Canadian history,” said Beardy.

Since 2005, NAN has publicly urged for a formal apology by the Prime Minister of Canada and continuation of programs focused on individual and community healing for the 90 percent of NAN members who have been impacted by the residential school system.

“Thousands of innocent lives were shattered by the residential school system, not only NAN members but First Nations across the province and country,” said Beardy. “This apology does not erase the pain endured by survivors nor does it fix the broken families, Nations or promises that were a result of the residential school system but it is an important first step towards reconciliation between the Government of Canada and First Nations.”

Events focused on the apology took place across the Nation today including an all-day event at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay. NAN Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler gathered with over two hundred residential school survivors, their families, NAN Elders and supporters to share stories, grief and reflections on this much awaited apology.

The Assembly of First Nations has been negotiating with the Government of Canada since December 2004 to reach a deal that will compensate more than 12,000 Aboriginals currently participating in lawsuits seeking compensation for the effects of the residential school system that uprooted Aboriginal children across Canada from their home communities. An Agreement-in-Principle was reached with the former Liberal government November 2005 and subsequently a final agreement with the Conservative government April 2006.

Approximately 5,000 NAN members attended residential schools

Nishnawbe Aski Nation is a political territorial organization representing 49 First Nation communities in James Bay Treaty 9 and Ontario portions of Treaty 5 – an area covering two thirds of the province of Ontario.

Wednesday June 11, 2008 - Ottawa, Ontario – Inuit were present today in the House of Commons to listen to Prime Minister Harper issue an apology to the victims of Residential School abuse. We also spoke in the House of Commons, an historic event.

“I spoke with the Prime Minister last week to urge him to ensure the apology would address Inuit as well as the other aboriginal groups in Canada impacted by this experience,” stated national Inuit leader Mary Simon, “The Prime Minister did his homework. The result is that Inuit welcome this apology. It is a vital step in healing our communities. The impacts of the residential school experience are multi-generational and are still being felt today. I am pleased that this issue was substantially addressed in today’s apology. The families of the survivors need this as much as the victims of the abuse.”

“I would argue all Canadians needed to hear these words,” said Mary Simon, “We can now collectively move forward in unison to build a much greater Canada. I applaud the comments made by the leaders of the political parties. We are doing the heavy lifting now, as a nation, with this apology and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The end game is a country at the highest level of social justice, and human rights in this world. That’s a Canada we should all aspire to live in.”

Inuit leaders representing the four Canadian Arctic regions, as well as Inuit survivors of the residential schools are in Ottawa today to receive the apology as official representatives of the Inuit communities in Canada. There were an estimated 3,500 Inuit who attended federal residential schools.

“Today’s apology also contained an important element, which Inuit will carefully consider,” noted Mary Simon. “The Prime Minister of Canada asked for forgiveness. This is also important to ask for. Granting forgiveness will also be an important part of this process for Inuit.”

Ms. Simon also said, “Unfortunately Inuit in the Nunatsiavut region (Labrador) have been left out of the Settlement Agreement and resulting compensation extended to survivors. This situation is not acceptable either to me or the Inuit of Nunatsiavut. Just as the Prime Minister has offered a full and unconditional apology to Inuit. I now ask him in that same spirit of openness to ensure that these survivors also receive the justice that is due to them so that they too may begin the healing process.”

“We will now be looking to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to give full and sensitive focus to Inuit experiences, outlooks, and needs,” added Mary Simon. “We intend to work hard with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to ensure it fully addresses and comprehends the Inuit experience.”

Subject: Reaction to Government of Canada’s Apologies for Residential School system

Quebec Native Women recognizes the Prime Minister’s official apology concerning the genocidal experience of Aboriginal people in the history of the Residential School system. While the apology to Aboriginal peoples is long overdue it is contradicted by the oppressive policies of the Indian Act.

The heinous crimes committed against Aboriginal children who were victims and survivors of the Residential School experience must be dealt with beyond mere apologies and monetary compensation.

The damages to our languages, wellbeing, social and political structures, and sexuality caused by Residential School demand attention. The policy of assimilation through the Residential Schools system constituted a war against an identifiable group of people.

And while we commend the Canadian Government on the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission we cannot ignore the Auditor General’s recent report substantiating that budgets for child welfare agencies in Canada continue to focus the majority of their efforts on the placement of Aboriginal children outside their communities and Nations. This type of practice is reminiscent of the Residential School policy.

Consequently, the Canadian Government must acknowledge that Residential School was an act of genocide; a crime against humanity. Apologies may be recognized but they are not necessarily accompanied by forgiveness as no nation or groups have ever been forgiven for their acts of genocide.

In order for this apology to be considered genuine, more efforts must be undertaken to correct current oppressive measures under the Indian Act that prevent Indigenous peoples from prospering socially, culturally, politically and economically.

The actions of the Canadian Government in opposing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples makes the apology feel hollow. Their opposition to the UNDRIP perpetuates the insidious, archaic Indian Act that continues to discriminate and deny Aboriginal nations their rights. The facts and arguments reflecting the manner in which the Canadian Government
continues to undermine the rights of Indigenous peoples, can be found in Amnesty International’s 2008 Annual Report.

We therefore urge the Government of Canada to adequately fund Indigenous languages in a manner that is equivalent to the support given to the French and English languages; to adequately consult Aboriginal peoples in good faith on legislation that addresses issues such as matrimonial real property, Bill C 21, Bill C 47; Bill C 30 and to eliminate the sexual discrimination that exists under Section 6 of the Indian Act.

In order for Aboriginal communities to emerge from the negative impacts of colonization they must have access to their lands and resources; they must have the opportunities to build strong and healthy nations by taking to task the social and economic problems whose roots are firmly based in colonization.

Canada has established itself as a rich and prosperous country at the expense and blood of Aboriginal peoples. And while we may recognize the Government’s admission of guilt, the fact remains that many obstacles must be removed in order to give meaning to the spirit and intent of their apology.

Ellen Gabriel
President of Quebec Native Women’s Association
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After the apologies of Prime Minister Harper, the First Nations of Quebec demand concrete actions

MONTREAL, June 11, 2008

The Chiefs of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, gathered at a regular Assembly, in Montreal, took notice of the apologies pronounced by the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, for the harm caused to the victims of residential schools, commonly known as "Indian residential schools". After a minute of silence observed for the whole of concerned families and communities, the Chief of the Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL), read an official declaration.

"If the government does not adopt concrete measures, especially towards
our youths, its apologies would prove meaningless" stated Chief Picard, who
was accompanied by several other Chiefs having attended residential schools.
"The victims of residential schools are not only those who lived there.

Many persons suffered and are still suffering, even if they never attended
these places. Pain, hatred, anger and lack of understanding are transmitted
from one generation to the other" further stated Chief Picard.

About the AFNQL

The Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador is the regional
organization which regroups the Chiefs of the First Nations of Quebec and
Labrador.

APOLOGIES FROM THE PRIME MINISTER FOR THE HARM CAUSED BY RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS

DECLARATION OF THE AFNQL CHIEF

June 11, 2008

Today, the prime Minister of Canada presented his apologies to the
survivors of residential schools, for the abuses they suffered. These abuses
are a known fact and it certainly deserves apologies from the Canadian
government.

More than 15 000 persons of the First Nations of Quebec went through this
tragic period; they were dragged away from their family, as early as 7 years
of age, then taken to a residential school, where they had to live ten months
a year. The clear and admitted objective was to assimilate the young natives
to the Canadian society. The method was categorical and cruel. The physical
punishments were frequent and at times, reached unacceptable proportions. Many even lost their lives there.

Very quickly, the authorities of residential schools succeeded to instill
in these children a feeling of shame for having been born from a First Nation,
for being what they are. Their parents also developed a feeling of shame and
disarray.

The residential schools left major scars. Its devastating effects are
perceptible in many communities.

The victims of the residential schools are not only those who lived
there. Many persons suffered and are still suffering, even if they never
attended these places. Pain, hatred, anger and lack of understanding are
transmitted from one generation to the other.

Is there a need to remind that the residential schools are part of a
comprehensive strategy of assimilation, whose master piece is the Indian Act,
a law which is still in force today? The values behind the system of
residential schools are very much present today in the actions of the Canadian
government who has been trying all this time, to control all the angles of our
way of life, from birth to death, not to mention the education aspect.

The First Nations of Quebec and Labrador are wondering how the prime
minister can apologize for the scandal of residential schools, while totally
ignoring the crisis situations which prevail at this very moment, and which
result from the same policy having justified the creation of residential
schools.

How is it possible to justify, for example, the chronic under-funding of
First Nations education, the key to the future of our youth? How is it
possible to justify the under-funding of our social services? How is it
possible to ignore the large number of children who are placed away from their
community, because there is no prevention service within the communities?

Our communities are suffering major problems, which have a direct link with the scandal of residential schools. Yet, the government is not providing the
resources required to counter the crisis situation. It still refuses to grant
our communities the sums comparable to those of the rest of the population.
While Canada ranks 4th on the Human Development Index, our First Nations are at the 68th rank.

Is the prime minister also apologizing for this situation?

Most of all, today, we invite the Canadian government to act concretely.
If the government does not adopt concrete measures, especially towards
our youths, its apologies will prove meaningless.

Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, on the Apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools

June 13, 2008

It was only a few days ago that I watched Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations deliver a rousing speech about the tragic history of the Indian Residential Schools. In the presence of more than 200 young professionals from across the country, he laid bare horrific stories of abuse and dispossession that saw thousands of Aboriginal children, including him, torn away from their families, and stripped of their cultures and languages.

Shock and horror were visible on everyone’s face, as they absorbed, many for the first time, the enormity of these injustices. Profoundly troubled, the audience gave Chief Fontaine a standing ovation and made an emotional plea for forgiveness.

The fact that so many were oblivious to this disgraceful chapter of our history reveals a troubling truth: numerous Canadians ignore these devastating events and thus are unable to grasp their terrible consequences. This explains why so many people are unable to comprehend the distress that is so pervasive in many aboriginal communities.

The time had come for Canadians to break down the wall of indifference and, through an unequivocal gesture, reestablish the truth so that we all accept to act together to right this historical wrong.

History will forever remember the declaration pronounced on June 11, 2008.

In front of millions of Canadians, words of sorrow and regret gave way to expressions of hope and reconciliation, as a powerful admission of wrongdoing resounded across the country. Survivors of the baneful residential schools witnessed what many thought would be impossible. And, they wished with all their hearts that this blessed day would illuminate the hope and promise of a better future for all Canadians.

I was so touched to witness the signing of the solemn, historic and crucial declaration. In the midst of burning sweetgrass, sacred songs, fiddling and dances, we listened to painful testimonies mixed with tears of joy and spiritual blessings. Never have drums resonated so strongly in the heart of the Parliament building. Together—Inuit, Métis, First Nations and non-Aboriginals—we celebrated the richness of a heritage that has survived decades of offense. Together, we joined hands in committing to bridge the gaps entrenched by years of injustice.

Clearly, this is not the end of the journey. But, as Chief Fontaine said, “We still have to struggle, but now we are in this together.”

Michaëlle Jean

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Marthe Blouin
Official Spokesperson to the Governor General of Canada
613-993-0397

As a survivor of a Canadian policy designed to strip my people of our collective identity, it is with mixed emotion that I rise today to respond to the apology delivered by the Prime Minister yesterday in the House of Commons.
I would like to first acknowledge our honoured guests in the gallery. Grand Chief Ron Evans, Treaty Commissioner Dennis Whitebird, Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand, Keewatin Tribal Council Grand Chief Arnold Ouskan, respected elder and Order of Manitoba recipient Ed Wood, and all First Nations Chiefs in attendance.
Most importantly, I want and convey my deepest and heartfelt respect to the elders and survivors who have joined us in the public gallery here today, and honour those who sadly never lived to see this day. Also I must acknowledge the children of survivors for their courage and commitment to a brighter future. I would like to also mention some old buddies whose friendship helped me survive my time at residential school, Elijah Joseph Harper, who is here today, also Robert Paynter and David Menow who still live in Norway House.

I am humbled to put these words on the record on behalf of all those affected by the devastating legacy of residential schools in this province and across the country.

I, like many of you joining us in the gallery today, was taken from my family as a five-year-old boy entering the formative years of my life, and placed in a world that taught me everything I knew was wrong. Of course at that age it's not hard to believe.
It's difficult to remember many aspects of those early years, but I can still taste the lye soap placed in my mouth for speaking my language. As you can see, it didn't work.
Other memories are more difficult to relive. Being molested at a young age by a priest has brought me a lifetime of pain and anguish. Being told it was my fault and later learning to blame everyone around me has taken a toll on my personal relationships.
But I still consider myself one of the fortunate ones, because at a young age I was able to leave that institution aimed at de-Indianizing me. But I could not escape the pain inside. Alcohol and drugs may have provided temporary relief but only accelerated my feelings of despair.
The same process had been inflicted on my parents a generation earlier. My mother's life was marred by dysfunction because of her upbringing at Cross Lake Residential School. Entering residential school as an orphan at the age of three, it was the only life she knew until she finished school at age 18. She died alone in Winnipeg at the age of 31 after giving birth to four children, never having had the ability to be a mother as my siblings and I were raised in different homes. Meanwhile my father attended the Brandon Residential School for seven years but never learned anything more than how to write his name. It is no wonder my generation and my parents generation had a difficult time being good parents, and living a life of dysfunction became the norm.

Because I was led to believe a warrior suffers in silence, I never learned how to express my emotions in a constructive way. I've now come to understand that at some point you have to begin healing your mind, heart and spirit and I believe many people, including myself, will be doing that for the rest of our lives.
With the kindness, strength and wisdom of our elders, and the traditional ceremonies and teachings we hold sacred, I was able to escape from that road of self-destruction. In the face of a systemic assault on my culture, I've come to understand that the one positive thing about my experience is a fire ignited within me that burns to this day. It's why I was able to find the strength to leave drugs and alcohol behind me in my early 20s to fight for what I believe in with clarity of mind, body and spirit.

With the Prime Minister's apology, the most powerful political figure in Canada, it is my belief that we have crossed another obstacle in our trail of hurt. I'm proud to be part of a government that respects and recognizes Aboriginal Peoples inherent right to self-governance. A government that respects the spirit and intent of our treaties. A government that works meaningfully with First Nations to build government to government relationships based on mutual respect and trust. And a government that recognizes the rights and unique contributions of Metis and Inuit Manitobans.

At the same time I fully realize a lot of work remains to be done. I do know we cannot allow our children be taken away from us again. Our children will never again be allowed to be adopted from our reserves, our province and even our country, nor be placed in tuberculosis sanatoriums and be used as guinea pigs. That is why I support our devolution initiative that allows our people to run our own Child and Family Services.

Yesterday morning I heard a media personality here in Winnipeg question whether an apology was necessary. Excuse me, but it's the survivors who decide what's appropriate here and now, not those who believe they know what's best, because it's that kind of thinking that spawned the residential school system in the first place.

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of National Chief Phil Fontaine in making yesterday's apology a reality. The Federal government's request for forgiveness proves our fight was not, and is not in vain. Progress is being made, but there is a long way to go. I do believe that collectively as Canadians we are at a crossroads. The goodwill displayed by our national government must be sustained if we are to take the necessary next steps in the healing process.

Despite the pain from the physical, psychological and sexual abuse, despite the attempts to destroy our spirit, we as Indian people have persevered.
I believe in my heart that the apologies from the Prime Minister and leaders of the opposition parties were heartfelt and sincere, and for that I am proud today to be a Canadian. But first and foremost, I am proud to be Cree, a pride that no amount of brainwashing could ever erase.

Mr Speaker, I request you canvass the house to see if there is leave for a 15 minute recess of question period to allow our honoured guests time to exit and all members the opportunity to shake the hands of those brave women and men we know as survivors.
Ekosani.
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Ontario Commends Courage Of Residential School Survivors

Statement By Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant

TORONTO, June 11, 2008

Today the Government of Canada apologized for the abuses that took place in the Indian Residential School System and the impact that had on generations of First Nation, Métis and Inuit families across the country and province. It is an impact that I encounter almost every day, and on every occasion that I visit First Nations traditional territory.

The formal apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper does not erase the
injustices experienced by residential school students. It does, however,
provide an opportunity to heal and sets the stage to continue strengthened
relationships based on dignity and mutual respect.

Ontario applauds the efforts of National Chief Phil Fontaine and First
Nation leadership across Ontario and Canada, as we reflect on this shameful
chapter of our shared history.

The courage of the survivors to tell their stories, including National
Chief Fontaine, made change possible and paved the way to today's historic
apology.

VICTORIA - Premier Gordon Campbell made the following statement today
on the federal government's official apology to Aboriginal survivors of
residential schools.

"Today is an emotional day for survivors of residential schools and their families, and our thoughts are with each of them. The survivors and those before them became the 'stolen generation,' taken from their families as children, they were held captive from their culture and communities. They were robbed of all that is irreplaceable - their youth, their innocence, and their sense of who they were and where they came from.

"Today's apology by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to survivors of residential schools provides an opportunity to begin the act of healing. We sincerely hope that healing will evolve from this apology, and that it will be a significant step toward closing a tragic chapter in Canada's history.

"We believe it's our time and our task to tackle the issues of Aboriginal disadvantage and disparity. We are challenged and compelled to close that gap, fulfilling our nation's potential and promise by ensuring that Aboriginal peoples have the same entitlement to success and opportunity as anyone else.

"I thank the federal government for having the courage to take responsibility and make this apology today, so together we can create a better future for B.C. and for all Aboriginal peoples, First Nations, Métis and Inuit coast-to-coast throughout Canada.

"Here in B.C. this is a watershed moment that builds on a New Relationship our province has been forging with First Nations. A relationship founded on mutual respect, recognition and reconciliation."

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June 11, 2008

WHITEHORSE – The following statement was released today by Premier Dennis Fentie regarding the Government of Canada’s apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools: “Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools is welcomed by the Government of Yukon. The apology was made in the House of Commons today on behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians.

“The Yukon government encourages all Yukoners to acknowledge and remember this day. This apology marks a new era, one in which citizens and governments can start to build new relationships.

“The Yukon government supports the work of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission and urges Yukoners who have been affected by the Indian Residential Schools’ legacy to share their experiences with the Commission.”

Mr. Speaker, earlier this afternoon Prime Minister Stephen Harper provided a statement of apology to former students of Aboriginal residential schools. I would like to offer this government’s acknowledgement of the Prime Minister’s apology to the Aboriginal people and their families who have been hurt by their attendance at residential schools.

Most people in this territory have been impacted in some way by the effect of residential schools. Many have family or friends that were affected. Over half of the Members of this Assembly attended residential schools ourselves. All of us have witnessed the loss, sorrow and devastation caused by these schools. Many of the challenges Northerners face, from loss of language, culture and family connection, to addictions and further abuses, stem from the difficult personal and family situations created by the residential school system in our communities.

The Prime Minister’s apology is a glimmer of hope for Northern students who passed through a dark part of Canadian history, and finally marks the beginning of a period of healing and recovery. This apology is a necessary step on the healing journey of those who have suffered and suffer still. It does not mean the harm done to them by residential schools will go away, but allows for a new chapter in this sorrowful book. A turning of the page that signals a new beginning and a time of reconciliation and hope for Aboriginal families across our land. Mr. Speaker, we have a great deal of work ahead to help those affected deal with the indignities, degradation and suffering that resulted from residential schools. Much of the planning we do in this legislature is bound to the events of the residential school system.

For some there has been a positive side to their experience. Students met lifelong friends, and received an education that started them on a successful career path, as we witnessed recently at the Yellowknife reunion of one NWT residential school.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has granted casual leave to employees wishing to watch the apology or attend events marking the occasion. Let us also pause for a moment from our discussions and debates today to remember and pray for those students and family members who have suffered as a result of the residential school system. Let us reflect on their suffering, and also on their strength. Let us honour the culture, language and community that has been retained, even as we mourn what was tragically lost.

Thank you.
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Toronto, June 11, 2008: The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) joins with other Canadians in commending the Federal Government on the heartfelt apology which Prime Minister Harper delivered on behalf of Canadians for the abusive treatment Aboriginal children received in the racist government-sanctioned residential schools.

"We appreciate the very apparent sincerity with which the Prime Minister delivered the apology on behalf of Canadians," said Albert Lo, the Foundation's Chair. "The act of acknowledging the wrongs committed is so important because it changes the rules of engagement for the better in any discussion. It places the matter of respect on a more equal footing."

"Clearly, any action or activity that attempts to assimilate another people is racist. With this apology, the message is 'we were wrong to do this, let us now begin a new relationship'."

The CRRF also acknowledges the apologies and comments offered by the leaders of the opposition parties in the House of Commons who identified that there are still many problems and obstacles which need to be overcome between Aboriginal peoples and other Canadians, including the living conditions of some. They also point to the fact it was this Government which did not support the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples.

"We sincerely hope that Canadians will not only take this opportunity to find out more about the conditions that Aboriginal peoples faced in the residential schools and the impact on their societies, but more about the true realities of Aboriginal life and history in Canada," concluded Lo.

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The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) was founded as part of the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement to shed light on the causes and manifestations of racism and to play a leading role in the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and in bringing about a more harmonious Canada. The CRRF has registered charitable status and has Special NGO Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

On June 11, representatives of the Anglican Church of Canada travelled to Parliament Hill in Ottawa to watch Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology to former residential school students. Anglican Video compiled the highlights of the day into a short online video. A photo slideshow is also available. (See links at bottom of email.)

In a later interview, the Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, said he saw his role on June 11 as a "ministry of presence and prayer." He attended a June 10 reception hosted by the Assembly of First Nations, and on the morning of June 11, he participated in a sunrise service to remember those who died in residential schools. Later in the day the Primate joined others in watching the Prime Minister's apology in a screening room.

"It was an incredibly sacred moment in the history of Canada, that the Prime Minister would make this apology," said the Primate. He said he was pleased that other party leaders offered apologies of their own, and that Aboriginals responded in the House of Commons. He and National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald had discussed the possibility of Aboriginal responses with Chuck Strahl, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, in a conference call a week earlier.

"My hope and prayer all along is that the apology would be prepared and delivered in such a way that just as in the cases of our own apology, 15 years later, it's still a point of reference," said Archbishop Hiltz.

In 1993, Primate Michael Peers apologized on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada for its role in administering Anglican residential schools, which ran from 1820 to 1969 in various places across Canada.

The video includes reactions from other Anglican representatives: the Rev. Gloria Moses and the Ven. Sidney Black, co-chairs of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples; and National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, today said he was moved by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s apology to victims of residential schools and is optimistic that the historic apology – made on behalf of the Canadian government – will be followed by action.

“I was equally grateful for the apologies – and that’s what they were –;offered on behalf of the other political parties," he said in an interview with the Anglican Journal on Parliament Hill after Mr. Harper delivered the apology in the House of Commons June 11, followed by apologies from the other party leaders. "I was very encouraged by their determination to make sure that this apology is seen as a beginning, and that it will be accompanied by actions that will significantly improve the quality of life for First Nations people in this land," the primate said. The government’s apology was directed at the generations of victims of what Mr. Harper called "a sad chapter in our history" and asked for forgiveness for the students’ suffering and for the damaging impact the schools had on aboriginal culture, heritage and language.

Aboriginal leaders and abuse victims, among them Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, were in the chamber as Mr. Harper delivered the apology.

"Today, we recognize this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country,” said Mr. Harper. "The Government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly.

"The Government of Canada now recognizes it was wrong to forcibly remove children from their homes … to separate children from rich and vibrant traditions," he said. "We apologize for having done this."

Mr. Harper also noted that while some former students have spoken positively about their experiences at residential schools, "these stories are far overshadowed by tragic accounts of the emotional, physical and sexual abuse and neglect of helpless children, and their separation from powerless families and communities."

Several First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders spoke in the chamber in response to the government’s apology with Fontaine – wearing a traditional aboriginal headdress – calling it "the achievement of the impossible." He added: “Finally we have heard Canada say it is sorry.”

Clement Chartier, Métis National Council President thanked the government for the apology and said, "It has taken courage and conviction on the parts of many, many people to confront this dark period in Canada’s history."

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said the apology "is about a past that should have been completely different." But, he added, "it must be also about the future. It must be about collective reconciliation and fundamental changes."

Native groups and leaders of the four churches that operated the residential schools on behalf of the federal government – Anglican, Roman Catholic, United and Presbyterian – had urged the government to consult with First Nations leaders in the drafting of the apology.

The government rejected the idea but Archbishop Hiltz said the groups seemed satisfied that the apology had the necessary ingredients. These included "acknowledgement of a policy of assimilation that was flawed and wrong in its inception, words of contrition on the part of the government for removing children from their families, (and) words of contrition for abuse which many of them suffered in the school," he said.

Bishop Mark MacDonald, the national indigenous bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada, said he was pleased with the government’s apology. "I’m going to be processing it for a long time," he told the Journal. “It was an extraordinary event and I was very happy with what I heard and moved by what I heard and I’m filled with all kinds of emotions. So it will take me a while to process it but I thought it was an extraordinary day and one of the best days of my life."

Bishop MacDonald and Archbishop Hiltz, along with other church leaders and scores of First Nations people watched the proceedings in the House of Commons on screens set up in two large meetings rooms nearby. Also in attendance were Archdeacon Sidney Black and the Rev. Gloria Moses, co-chairs of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples.

More than 1,000 others watched from outside the House of Commons where a big screen television was set up. About 30 events marking the historic formal apology were organized in cities and communities across Canada. The Anglican Church of Canada urged parishes to ring their church bells at 3 p.m., the time Mr. Harper was scheduled to deliver the apology.

After the apology was delivered, Mr. Harper and Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl led the procession from the House to one of the rooms for a smudging ceremony, the presentation of tobacco and tea to aboriginal elders, and the signing of the Statement of Apology.

Eleven of the special guests, including Mr. Fontaine and 104-year-old Margeurite Wabano, the oldest residential school survivor, were presented with a framed Statement of Apology from Mr. Harper, and congratulations and hugs from Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

The government’s apology to residential school students comes 15 years after the Anglican Church of Canada, through former primate Archbishop Michael Peers, issued an apology for its involvement in the schools. The church ran about 30 of the schools between 1820 and 1969, About 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were taken from their communities over most of the last century and forced to attend state-funded but church-run boarding schools aimed at assimilating them.

(Art Babych is the editor of Crosstalk, the monthly newspaper of the diocese of Ottawa.)

NATIONAL NATIVE ADDICTIONS PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATION HOPES GOVERNMENT OF CANADA’S APOLOGY WILL OPEN THE DOOR TO UNDERSTANDING LARGER ISSUE OF ABORIGINAL CHILDREN’S REMOVAL FROM THEIR FAMILY

Muskoday, Saskatchewan, June 16, 2008. The National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation welcomes the government of Canada’s apology to First Nations and Inuit peoples who suffered from the impact of Residential Schools. This apology brings publicly to light the tragic repercussions from policies designed to expropriate and assimilate First Nations and Inuit Peoples in Canada.

The apology will not veil the past, but recognizing that the policy to "kill the Indian in the child" as a means to erode their parents rights to preserve their autonomy, culture and land was wrong, raises hope for the future. It is anticipated that this recognition and understanding will begin to purge present and future policies, so that First Nations and Inuit People in Canada will now be free to pursue their own legitimate dreams and aspirations.

As a National Aboriginal organisation working to bring closer the time when First Nations and Inuit people are able to recover from their historical trauma and leave behind the cycle of alcohol and drug addictions, the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation welcomes this major step forward.

Just as the 1991 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples’ audiences, its 1996 Report and the creation of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation had a direct role in the process leading to the recognition of the Residential School system and its intergenerational impact on Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, NNAPF believes that the new Healing and Reconciliation Commission launched June 1st will also deepen understanding of the root causes driving the many social problems in First Nations and Inuit communities today.

The National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation also believes that the door is now open to reach another level of understanding: the fact that Residential Schools were a partial component of a much larger system aimed at removing children from their family. This policy, implemented by all colonial powers, still affect the destiny of millions of peoples all over the world, and is still in place in Canada today through the Child Welfare system, with major psychological and social impact on Aboriginal children, their families and communities.

As Cindy Blackstock, from the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society declared recently "in reviewing the available evidence, what is clear is that there are more First Nations children living in state care today than at any time in history - including during the height of the residential school operations." Compared to non-aboriginal children in custody, the statistics are staggering.

The widespread adoption of Aboriginal children out to non-native families in the '60s, '70s and early '80s - was instaured on the heels of the Residential School closures. By the late 1970s, "as many as one in three status Indian or Metis children were removed - at least temporarily - from their homes. In some provinces, one in two spent a childhood as a permanent ward of the government. Many were adopted into white homes" (Ottawa Citizen, April 18, 1998).

This still very little known tragic issue of Aboriginal Children once again taken from their family (and often referred to as the sixties Scoop) is on a par, as far as the repercussions on First Nations families and communities are concerned, with the Residential School issue.

"In many instances, children were literally scooped from their homes without knowledge or consent of families and/or their communities. Many First Nations charged that in many cases where consent was not given, government authorities and social workers acted under the colonial assumption that native people were culturally inferior (Sandra Kakeeway – The First Perspective) ".

Anyone who has children, whether parents, grandparents, uncles or aunts can for a moment stop and imagine the pain from having the children in their family taken away forcibly, with no recourse or power to prevent it. Refuge in alcohol, drug addictions and suicide is the hallmark of individual and collective desperation, disempowerment, loss of dignity and identity. Redress of this situation will make Canada a greater and healthier country.

The National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation will continue to welcome any initiative advancing a sincere process of healing and reconciliation, knowing that it will have a powerful effect on its own collaborative vision "to cultivate interdependent and empowering relationships as we reclaim and reconnect to our cultural strengths, purpose and place on earth".

Three-in-five think the government should speed-up existing land claims disputes and do more to deal with poverty in Aboriginal communities.

VANCOUVER – Aug. 11, 2008

Two-thirds of Canadians agree with the Prime Minister’s apology to Aboriginal communities for Canada’s role in the Indian Residential Schools system, a new Angus Reid Strategies poll reveals.

On Jun. 11, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a formal apology in the House of Commons—on behalf of the Cabinet and in front of First Nations delegates—for the policy that had “a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language.”

In the online survey of a representative national sample, 67 per cent of respondents agree with the apology, while only 17 per cent disagree.

Despite the high level of support for the apology, Canadians want the federal government to be more engaged with Aboriginal peoples. Three-in-five respondents (62%) want Ottawa to speed up existing Aboriginal land claims disputes (62%) and 65 per cent want the federal administration to do more to deal with poverty in Aboriginal communities (65%).

When asked which of the two main federal political parties would be more capable of developing legislation that would improve the living conditions of Aboriginal Canadians, a third of respondents (32%) pick neither party, while 19 per cent think either the Conservatives or the Liberals would achieve results.

On the subject of the apology, Albertans are the most supportive (82%), along with respondents aged 18-34 and 55+ (71% for both) and those with at least one university degree (75%).

Notably, respondents in Quebec show the least agreement with the apology (62%) and are the least inclined to believe that the federal government should speed-up existing Aboriginal land claim disputes (52%) and do more to deal with poverty in Aboriginal communities (62%).

Looking at which party would be better suited to enhance the living conditions of Aboriginal Canadians, a significantly high number of Albertans (36%) pick the Conservative Party (compared to 18% for the Liberal party), while roughly one-quarter of British Columbians (24%) choose the Liberals (compared to 13% for the Conservatives).

Males and females tend to think differently on most of the questions included in this survey. While more men agree with the Prime Minister’s apology (70% compared to 63% for women), women are more inclined to argue that the federal government should accelerate existing disputes over land (64% versus 59% for males) and do more to fix poverty problems in Aboriginal communities (67% versus 63% for men).

The gender gap is also evident when respondents assess which of the two main federal parties would be more capable of developing legislation to improve the living conditions of Aboriginal Canadians. While a similar number of men and women pick the Liberal Party (20% men, 18% women), significantly more men select the Conservative Party (24%, versus 13% of women).

Other interesting snippets point to differences based on age and education. Older respondents (25%) are more likely to believe that the Conservatives are better suited to improve living conditions (compared to 17% of those aged 35-54 and 14% of younger adults), as are people with a high school degree or less (24%, versus 19% for those with a college diploma and only 12% of university graduates).

In turn, only 12 per cent of those with a high school diploma or less believe the Liberal Party would achieve more success, compared to slightly more college graduates (17%) and significantly more Canadians with at least one university degree (30%).

University graduates are also the most inclined of all groups to say that the federal government should do more to deal with poverty in Aboriginal communities (73%).